24 June

Friends and family,

Hello! Happy Father's day...I think it was on Sunday? In Taiwan it is August 8th--because the Chinese word for 8 is "ba" and the Chinese word for father is "ba ba"-- so 8/8 is "ba ba" day. Maybe it is funnier if you can hear the Chinese. Hmm.

So I attached some pictures and sent them in another email. One is me on a rainy day--don't those raincoats look so fun to wear on a bike? :) The other two are from a preparation day activity--we took one of our investigators, Wysteria, and her sister and the rest of our district and went to Wulai, a hike with a waterfall. I was so happy to wear normal clothes (jeans and a t-shirt) that I was practically flying. :) Sorry, the file was too big so you don't get the flying picture. Maybe next time.

So I do missionary work every day, and I am sure you are all excited to hear about the missionary work, but when I write on preparation day I try to think about the exciting things that happened and all I can remember is what happened last preparation day. So last preparation day we went up to Wulai, like I said before, which is in my old area and is a beautiful place up in the mountains with a waterfall. We went with my favorite person in Taiwan, Wysteria, and her sister from southern Taiwan and went to go see the waterfall and whatever else they have up there. Well, after a long ride and a bit of a walk we got to the waterfall--of course not touceable--and so as missionaries are prone to do we got bored quickly and kept hiking (and by hiking I mean walking up stairs--the equivalent of "hiking" in Taiwan) and got to this place that overlooked the waterfall. Here we are in this beautiful place with a waterfall, lots of shops of souveniers, etc...and us American missionaries started taking jumping pictures. We spent more time taking jumping pictures than actually looking at the waterfall or anything else--which I found more than a little funny. :) I guess as humans we can entertain ourselves for longer than anything can entertain us!

So yesterday and the day before I went on exchanges with Banqiao. The exchange sister this transfer is training--so I went into Banqiao with the trainee. It was lots of fun--and I remembered my first transfer. Hmm, definitely not something I want to do again (my first transfer, not exchanges!). It is always fun to go into another area, especially since I have been in Tucheng for so long! (6 months!) Transfers are next week so my next preparation day will be on Monday--and I might move. And I might stay. Who knows. Whatever happens, I love this area and if I move I will definitely miss the people I have grown to love so much.

So sorry, this email is really boring. But I don't want you all to have too high of expectations. Plus, you get pictures, so don't complain. Love you all,

Sister White